Two days after 4-year-old Yuval Kogan was found safe and sound, new details about the investigation that was conducted in parallel with the search efforts were revealed today (Sunday).
In an interview with the B network, the commander of the Ashkelon police station, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Eldad Elyashiv, said that due to the complexity of the incident and the fear for the child's life, the police did not settle for searches, but simultaneously conducted an extensive criminal and intelligence investigation.
""As police officers, we must be suspicious," Elyashiv explained. "We examined all scenarios - from a terrorist attack, to kidnapping, to parental involvement. It's unpleasant to present such suspicions to parents in their difficult time, but it's our professional duty.".
Listen to the full interview:
To dispel rumors and conspiracy theories that were spread on social media, according to which the child was held by some entity and returned to the area, Yuval's mother, a doctor by profession, authorized a brief "child investigation" for her son immediately after he was found.
The investigation clearly revealed that Yuval was alone throughout the day.
""All conspiracies can be dispelled," clarified Senior Lieutenant Colonel Elyashiv. "He told about his experiences at night - he saw the helicopters and the flares, heard the jeeps around him, but with the innocence of a 4-year-old child, he didn't even realize that they were looking for him.".
Kogan was located on Friday afternoon in the Nitzanim area, more than four kilometers from the point where he was seen on Hofit Beach. He was found by Noam Shimchi, one of the thousands of volunteers who came to help with the search.
